Controlling vapor electric devices.



P. H. THOMAS. GONTROLLING VAPOR BLEGTRICDEVIGBB.

AYPLIGATIUN FILED FBB.2, 1910.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

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PERCY H. irHOMAs, or MONTOLAIR, new reussir, nssrenon r.ro COOPER Huw-rrr :etnou rare COMPANY, A CORPORATION or new YORK.

COSNTROLLINGIVAPOR ELECTRIC DEVICES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten NOV. ir, reir.

Original application filed February 9, 1904:, Serial No. 192,799. 'Divided and this application led February 2, 1910. Serial No. 541,542.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, PEROY H. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Montclair, .county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useother hand, the economy of the mercury vapor lamp is so great as to secure its adoption in places where the question of the color of the light is of minor importance. Some of the simple and compound gases give spa:- tra that contain an abundancelof red rays when they are made luminous by the passage of an electric current. These gases, however,often require an expenditureof energy which renders their use in lamps practically prohibitive. lA combination of the rays from mercury vapor and from some other gas might, however, aii'ord an agreeable light and at the same time preserve reasonable limits of economy. The diiliculty connected vwith employing some fixed or compound gas in combination with mercury vapor resides in the fact that without special care of special contrivances, the mercury vapor is liable vto be generated in excessive quantities and crowd out the gases from the light-giving portion of the lamp. This is pa'rtly due to the fact that in the ordinary operation of mercury vapor lamps, a considerable amount of mercury vapor is naturally generated and that with lamps of the usual construction this vapor passes.

freely through all portions of the container. Anotherreason Why 'the mercury vapor is likely to dominate other gases in the lightgiving portion of the lamp is that the molecular or atomic weight of mercury vapor is very great in comparison with most gases and that when the natural mingling Of the mercury vapor and other gases is disturbed,

j as by the discharge of'an'electrie current, the lighter gas is likely to accumulate at one end of the lamp and to find diiiiculty in returning to the opposite end where it might mingle with the mercury vapor again. This tendency will be made7 clear by con- -cules moving at dierent velocities.

sidering the following facts. lTwo gases are vconsidered to be atthe same temperature whe1 1, being separated by heat-conducting partitions, one does not take from the other.

furthermore, two gases at the same pressureare known to contain the same number of molecules per unit of volume. From this it follows that two gases having the same temperature and pressure are composed of mole- Considering the mixture'of two gases within a, vapor electric apparatus, we may imagine that the current will be transmitted in thel form of rapidly moving very small part-icles. These impinging upon the molecules of the gases cause them to give light. The particles will produce very different eects upon the small rapidly moving molecules of one gas from their effect upon the heavy molecules Of the other gas, the resultbeing a selective action by which the natural uniformity of diffusion of gases is disturbed, t-he lighter gases being forced to the more remote portions of the apparatus. The result will naturally be a difference in the relative quantity of light emission from what would be expected from their relative quantities. This mat-ter may, of course, be looked at in a number of diiferent ways and eX- plained by other analogies. The above serves to elucidate the particular phenomenon referred to.

The present invention relates. to means whereby the spreading of the mercury vapor through the body of the container' is restrained to a certain extent and means whereby the lighter gas may be made to mingle with the mercury vapor at all times during the operation of the lamp.

The relative proportions 'of the vapors and gases within the lighting device may. be varied by varying the temperature of the device. By ireducing the'temperature of the apparatus, the development of mercuryY Figures 1 and Q illustrate different forms of devices suitable for carrying out my invention.

Referring irst to Fig. 2, I show means whereby a lighter gas, such as nitrogen, may be introduced into the container of a lamp having mercury or some other disintegrating and self reconstructing material as one oi its electrodes. In this ligure, 1 isl a container of glass or other transparent material having an enlargement, 2, at its top, and having other enlargements, Band il, at diiierent points along its length. The positive electrode in this instance is shown at 5, and the same may be constructed of iron or other suitable 'conducting material. The lead-wire, 6, supports or is connected with the said electrode within the bulb or enlargement The negative electrode is located at 7, and may be assumed to be composed of mercury. The negative electrode is connected to the external circuit by a leadwire S. The main portion of the luminous part of the apparatus is located between the enlargements i2 and 3. Between the enlargements 2 and Ll, extends a comparatively small tube, t), the purpose of which will be explained later on. uThis figure ot' the drawings shows the lamp in the process ol manufacture, a tube 10 being joined to the bulb or enlargement 3, and serving as an inlet through which the nitrogen or other gas may be forced into the lamp. After a sutiicient quantity ol gas has been pumped in, the tube 10 may be sealed oli' at 11, and the lamp will then appear without the attached tube lO. lt will be understood lthat the tube 10 is connected with a suitable pumping apparatus which will, however, be disconnected by the act of sealing oil' the tube.

i\ssuming the lamp to be sealed oli` and completed and assuming that the proper current. is applied to the terminals of the lanlp through the lead-wires 6 and 8, the. vapors generated by the passing current will mingle with the nitrogen or other lighter gas, the relative proportionsotl the vapors and gases being determined by the amount of vapor generated by the curr'eit and distributed through the container:

Owing to the construction of the container illustrated in Fig. 2, the mercury or other vapor generated passes into the light-giving portion of the container through the two enlargements #l and 3. Between these enlargements a narrow throat, l), is located which in itself ehokes oil' the free passage of the vapor into the container, while the bulb $2., by reason of its cooling effect condenses a considerable portion of the mercury vapor which passes through the said bulb: The action of the bulb 4e is similar and will have served to cut down the amount of free mercury vapor in the light-giving portion of the container by condensing a portion of it and allowing to return to the` elect-rode 7.

By properly proportioning the size of the bulbs 4 and 3 and of the throat 12, the amount of free mercury vapor in the lightgiving portion of the container 1 can be cut down to any desired amount. f In other words, the relative proportionsof the mercury vapor and the nitrogen gas, orsuch other gases and vapors as may be selected, may be under control, bringing about stable conditions as to the relative proportions of the gases and vapors employed. lVhen such stable conditions exist, the lamp may be run upon a constant potential circuit and the spectrum ot' the combined gases will appear,

thereby counterbalancing the insufiiciencies oi the mercury vapor spectrum al0ne.

I have observed in practice a tendency for the lighter gases to accumulate near the positive electrode or in other places out of the influence of the current.4 This may be counteraetedjto a great extent by means of the tube .l, connecting the region near the positive electrode with the part adjacent to the negative electrode. The excess of nitro-1 gen or other comparatively light gas in the neighborhood ol the positive electrode will find an outlet through the pipe t) and Will, according to the law ot' the distribution of gases and vapors, mingle with the vapors in the part of the lamp near the negative electrode and thus supply the deficiency of gas in that region. i

Between the receptacle containing the negative electrode and the condensing chamber above the said electrode,'I may place a constricted passage or throat which will in the first instance choke oif a portion of the vapor from entering the bulb er enlargement above the electrode as illustrated, for example, in Fig. 2. constricted path for the vapor developed. in

the operation of the device may be arranged either beyond the rst enlargement or between the receptacle for the negative electrode and the first enlargement or at any other et'ective point or points.

It will be understood that the enlargement 3 may be dispensed with or that any number of bulbs or enlargements may be utilized to secure the ends aimed at by the invention.

In other words, the' 'Ihe 1employment of a considerable number of condensing chambers arranged along the luminous column is shown in Fig. 1, where bulbs 14, 15, 16 and 17 appear, their function being to control the amount of condensable vapor in the luminous'portion of the container arising from the disintegration of the negative electrode.

Should it be desired to increase the relative proportions of condensable vapor in the apparatus, this can be accomplished by art-ifeial heating applied to the negative elec- Leoaoer trode or to the apparatus as a' Whole. On

the other hand, the total light eeet may be varied in the opposite sense by introducing into the lamp a relatively large proportion `of nitrogen or other gas.

By providing a condensing chamber near the positive electrode, or at intermediate In speaking of condensable and non-conp densable gases or vapors in the present speciication andclaims, reference is had to comparative. degree of conde'nsability, one gas being less easily condensed than the other.

In this application, claims are made upon certain features of an inventiondescribed in my applications Serial lNumbers 192,77 9 and 231,482, filed, respectively, February 9, 190e and November 5, 1904, of which vthis application is a division.

I'claim as my invention:

l. The combination with a transparent container inclosing suitableelectrodes and a definite quantity of non-condensable gas or vapor of a lcondensable gas or vapor in the container, andmeans for causing a circulation of the non-condensable gas or vapor through the condensable gas or vapor.

2.'The combination with a container inclosing suitable electrodes, the negative electrode being of a material adapted to develop a condensable vapor, of a'quantity of noncondensable gas or vapor in the container, definite in amount relativeto the quantity of condensable vapor, -whereby the spectrum of the combinationuiscontrolled, or' a return circuit extending from the region near the positive electrode to the region near the negative electrode.

' 3. In a vapor electric apparatus, an evacuated tube, a Vaporizable electrode therein, means for passing current to said electrode, and a plurality of condensing chambers for said apparatus disposed iinmediately adjacent to one another.

4e. In a vapor electric apparatus, an ei'acua'ted tube, a mercury electrode therein, means for passing current to said mercury electrode, and a plurality of annular corrugations in the wall of said tube forming a plurality of enlargements for the condensation of mercury `vapor.

Signed at New York in the county of New,

York and State of New York this 29th day of January A. D. 1910. o

PERCY H. TIIIYI.El.A

Witnesses:

W'M. H( Carni., Trios. H. BROWN. 

